DETROIT — A priest who wasn’t allowed to preach instead turned his ears and heart to the needy. Now, decades after his death, Solanus Casey is on a path to sainthood, celebrated as an incredibly humble man who brought people to God.
DETROIT — A priest who wasn’t allowed to preach instead turned his ears and heart to the needy. Now, decades after his death, Solanus Casey is on a path to sainthood, celebrated as an incredibly humble man who brought people to God.
Father Solanus, as he was known, was beatified Saturday at a Mass attended by more than 60,000 people at a stadium in Detroit where he spent much of his ministry. Pope Francis said he met the requirements to earn the title of “blessed,” especially after a woman from Panama was instantly cured of a chronic skin disease while she prayed at his tomb in 2012.
The woman, Paula Medina Zarate, had a formal role at the Mass, placing a cross in front of a portrait of Father Solanus after Italian Cardinal Angelo Amato read a decree by the pope.
Father Solanus can be made a saint in the years ahead if a second miracle is attributed to him. He’s only the second U.S.-born man to be beatified by the Roman Catholic Church, joining the Rev. Stanley Rother, a priest killed in Guatemala’s civil war, who was beatified in Oklahoma in September. One U.S.-born woman has been beatified and two others have been declared saints.
“It’s a great event,” Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron said ahead of the Mass. “It’s hard to communicate how vivid and real the presence of Father is to our community.”
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